SUN, MAR 26th, 2023 at 7:30 PM
Chamber Music by Candlelight
Venue: Second Presbyterian Church, 4200 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, MD
Free concert. No tickets or reservations required. Presented in-person and livestreamed on YouTube.
PROGRAM
“Stay On It”
Julius Eastman (1940-1990)
Julian Maddox, violin; Jacob Shack, viola; Victor Holmes, bass; Vitor Trindade, clarinet; Sarrah Bushara, oboe; Myles Blakemore, trombone; Lura Johnson, piano; Brian Prechtl, percussion; Jouelle Roberson, voice
Romance for violin & piano (arr. for viola)
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Jacob Shack, viola; Lura Johnson, piano
Lament for viola & piano
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004)
Jacob Shack, viola; Lura Johnson, piano
Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17
Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)
Kevin Smith, violin; Holgen Gjoni, cello; Michael Sheppard, piano
“Stay On It”
Julius Eastman (1940-1990)
Julian Maddox, violin; Jacob Shack, viola; Victor Holmes, bass; Vitor Trindade, clarinet; Sarrah Bushara, oboe; Myles Blakemore, trombone; Lura Johnson, piano; Brian Prechtl, percussion; Jouelle Roberson, voice
Romance for violin & piano (arr. for viola)
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Jacob Shack, viola; Lura Johnson, piano
Lament for viola & piano
Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932-2004)
Jacob Shack, viola; Lura Johnson, piano
Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17
Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)
Kevin Smith, violin; Holgen Gjoni, cello; Michael Sheppard, piano
Musician Biographies
Myles Blakemore, trombone
Myles Blakemore currently serves as Trombonist in the US Navy Band, Professor of Trombone at Howard University, and Professor of Low Brass at Morgan State University. Prior to his current positions, he was the inaugural Rosemary and David Good Fellow with the Minnesota Orchestra and a fellow with the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.
Myles has performed on international stages including with the Baltimore Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Lansing Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Virginia Symphony and Washington National Opera. As a student, he spent summers attending some of the country’s premier music festivals including Brevard Music Center, National Repertory Orchestra, and Aspen Music Festival.
A Dallas native, Myles is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, where he studied with John Kitzman. He received his Master's Degree at the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Per Brevig in the Orchestral Program.
He is a sought-after masterclass instructor, and maintains a trombone studio in the Washington DC area. He is currently at work on his debut solo album, which features the works of unaccompanied trombone. Follow Myles’ journey on social media, where he shares his musical process, performance education, and music industry satire. (Follow Myles on Instagram)
Myles Blakemore is a Bach Brass & Conn-Selmer Centerstage Performing Artist.
Sarrah Bushara, oboe
Praised by the Huffington Post for her “lithe and penetrating line,” Sarrah Bushara is a recent alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music, having studied oboe performance with Richard Woodhams and composition with David Serkin Ludwig. A native of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Bushara began her studies with Julie Madura and John Snow, and has soloed with local groups including the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, and the Northeast Orchestra. Recent summer engagements include Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Cuban American Youth Orchestra, the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and, as a composer, the Atlantic Music Festival. As a composer, Bushara began her studies with Dr. Sarah Miller at the MacPhail Center for Music and studied with Dr. Edie Hill as part of the Schubert Club Composer Mentorship program. This spring, Bushara performed with the Gateways Festival Orchestra as part of the first all-black orchestra to perform at Carnegie Hall, collaborating with composer and pianist Jon Batiste. Bushara has also served as co-principal of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and as a substitute oboist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She currently resides in Cambridge, MA where she studies oboe with John Ferrillo and philosophy at Harvard University, with interests in aesthetics and critical theory. Bushara is a John Harvard Scholar and was recently named one of two winners of the 2022 Jacob Wendell Scholarship Prize.
Holgen Gjoni, cello
Hailed for his “seriousness and depth of an authentic concert soloist,” Holgen Gjoni has been steadily gaining a reputation as one of the most soughtafter cellists of his generation and has performed as soloist and recitalist throughout United States, Europe and Asia. Winner of the 1st Prizes at the "John Hsu" Cello Competition, "Nancy Tumarkin" Cello Concerto Competition, Bucharest Music University Concerto Competition, 2nd Prize at the Mihail Jora International Cello Competition, Special Prize at Jeunnesse Musicales International Cello Competition, Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Award for Outstanding Commitment of Talent from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Presidential Award from The Boston Conservatory, Jerome L. Greene Fellowship Award from the Juilliard School and the Gregor Piatigorsky Fellowship at the New England Conservatory, he has been praised by critics for his “technique, beauty of sound and emotional projection”, “tempestuous musical sensibility, marked by an ineffable luminosity of expression”, "an elite musician", while the legendary YoYo Ma called him "a cellist of great talent".
Highlights of his versatile career include performances at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher, Alice Tully and Merkin Halls, Kennedy Center, Strathmore, Jordan, Seiji Ozawa and “Tchaikovsky” Concert Halls, Berlin and Budapest Opera Houses, Vatican, Tokyo City Opera, Shanghai Center Theatre and Beijing Century Theatre. Since his prizewinning debut with Korca String Orchestra (Albania) at the age of twelve, Mr. Gjoni went on to play as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Radio Chamber Orchestra (Romania), Radio and Television Orchestra (Albania), Kosovo Philharmonic, Greeley Philharmonic and SBS Orchestra (USA), while touring extensively around the world as the featured soloist of the Symphonia Orchestra (Italy) and the Philharmonie of the Nations, in solo performances as an Ambassador of Peace, including for the Papal audience in Vatican.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Gjoni's recent collaboration with the Borromeo String Quartet (Avery Fisher Grant winner) was praised by The Boston Musical Intelligencer: “The round, fullbodied tones of guest cellist Holgen Gjoni were especially notable.” He is a founding member of Arpello Duo (cello and harp, together with acclaimed harpist Ina Zdorovetchi), featured in a recital at the 2011 World Harp Congress in Vancouver, Canada and is set to give the World Premiere performance and CD recording a new Concerto for Cello and Harp (dedicated to them) by composer Geoffrey Gordon with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in Boston's Jordan Hall. Orchestral collaborations have included the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, New World Symphony and Philharmonia of the Nations under the directions of Maestros Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Colin Davis, Leonard Slatkin, James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos and many others.
A Virtu Foundation scholar, Mr. Gjoni is a visiting cello faculty at The Boston Conservatory, where his recent master classes on the topic of "Cello Physics" were enthusiastically received by a soldout audience. He has been invited to teach at Vianden International Music Festival, Luxembourg, Saarburg International Music Festival, Germany and the Academy of Arts in Tirana, Albania and has served as substitute teacher at the Juilliard School and New England Conservatory Preparatory Division. He is frequently invited to be on jury panels for local competitions in the city of Boston. His students went on to win important auditions and competition prizes.
Holgen Gjoni holds degrees from New England Conservatory, the Juilliard School, Boston Conservatory and Bucharest University of Music, having studied with cellists Paul Katz (former cellist of the Cleveland String Quartet), Bonnie Hampton (disciple of Pablo Cassals and Zara Nelsova), Andrew Mark and Marin Cazacu. He played in masterclasses for YoYo Ma, Janos Starker, Natalia Gutman, Franz Helmerson, Radu Aldulescu and has extensively worked with chamber music experts such as Joel Smirnoff, Samuel Rhodes and Joel Krosnick of the Juilliard String Quartet, Martha Katz of the Cleveland String Quartet, Michael Tree of the Guarneri String Quartet, Norman Fisher and Mark Sokol of the Concord String Quartet and Pamela Frank, to name a few.
Lura Johnson, piano
Steinway Artist Lura Johnson is celebrated by critics and audiences for her insightful, emotionally impactful performances. The Washington Post describes hearing her play as “one of life’s great pleasures.” The Baltimore Sun praises her “surging expressive force... impressive bravura...” and “exceptional vitality, color, and impact.” Performing more than one hundred concerts annually as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral pianist, Lura captures, distills, and powerfully communicates the spirit and personality of the music she performs. She describes her mission this way: “My goal is to vividly and thoroughly bring to life the essence and true character of the music, the way an actor embodies a role with full commitment.”
Lura is Resident Pianist of the Baltimore Symphony and Principal Pianist of the Delaware Symphony, positions which synthesize her finely honed ensemble skills, soloistic virtuosity, and versatility. She has played principal keyboard for seven albums recorded by the Baltimore Symphony, including Bernstein’s Mass, which received a Grammy nomination in 2010. The Washington Classical Review wrote of a BSO performance of Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety, “[Soloist] Jean-Yves Thibaudet was shadowed brilliantly by the BSO’s outstanding keyboard player, Lura Johnson, on the daunting celesta part.” This collaboration was immortalized in a 2017 album released by the BSO on the Naxos label, and was also part of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s tour of the United Kingdom in 2018, with performances and telecasts at the renowned BBC Proms and the prestigious Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.
Lura has been featured as a soloist with the Baltimore and Delaware Symphonies, performing Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto, Grieg Concerto, Mozart’s K. 466, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and Saint-Saens Wedding Cake Waltz. She is one of few keyboardists with the versatility to perform the complete Bach Brandenburg Concerti, moving seamlessly from the continuo harpsichord role in Concertos No.1 through 4 and No. 6 to the solo role in the magnificent Concerto No. 5. Similarly, in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s 2020 production of Amadeus Live, Lura navigated the solo role in several Mozart Concerti, as well as performing the supporting role of organ continuo, eliciting the praise “meticulous and brilliant” from the Montgomery County Sentinel.
Julian Maddox, violin / Co-Director of Chamber Music by Candlelight
Julian Maddox is a violinist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He began studying the violin at the age of six, working extensively with Sally O'Reilly. Julian received his undergraduate degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2019. Julian has been a prizewinner in numerous competitions, including the Schubert Club, Thursday Musical, MNSOTA, Dakota Valley Symphony, and MTNA Competitions.
As an avid chamber musician, his ensembles have won first place in the MNSOTA Chamber Music Competition, and have worked with members of the Cleveland, Takacs, Emerson, Danish, Jupiter, and Cavani String Quartets. Currently, he is a contract member of the Canton Symphony Orchestra, and a substitute with the Akron Symphony, Cleveland Pops, Firelands Symphony, New World Symphony, and ProMusica Chamber Orchestras. Julian is also committed to engaging with his local community in Cleveland. He is a founding member of the CIM Black Student Union, and serves as a mentor for the CIM Musical Pathways Fellowship program. In 2018, he worked alongside Cleveland Orchestra members at the Cleveland School for the Arts in a special collaboration for the Cleveland Orchestra's "Prometheus Project" centennial celebration.
Brian Prechtl, percussion
Percussionist Brian Prechtl has been a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2003. Before joining the BSO, he was a member of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Fort Wayne, IN for 14 seasons. Previous to that appointment, he held Principal Percussion positions in the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Prechtl spends his summers in Jackson Hole, WY as a performer in the Grand Teton Music Festival where he has been a member of the percussion section since 1992.
He graduated with high distinction from the University of Michigan in 1984 with a Bachelor of Music degree and went on to earn his Master of Music degree from Temple University in 1986. There he studied with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra and performed as a substitute player in Philadelphia.
Education has been a major focus for Prechtl. He has been a leader in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s outreach program, OrchKids since its inception 11 years ago. He teaches percussion and has piloted a “bucket band” program that has served as a model for El Sistema programs across the country. He recently published Bucket Band Basics– a primer for teaching artists. In 2016 he was awarded with a Ford Award for Excellence in Community Service from the League of American Orchestras for his work in the OrchKids Program.
An active composer, Prechtl has had world premiere performances at the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Eastman School of Music, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and throughout Baltimore. He has won composition prizes from the Percussive Arts Society and the College Music Society. He recently produced a CD of his compositions for music and the spoken word, which are settings of Walt Whitman’s Poetry from Leaves of Grass.
Jouelle Roberson, voice
Jouelle Roberson (Soprano) hails from Washington, D.C. She began her musical studies at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts where she participated in the Show Choir. Following graduation, she was accepted into the vocal studies program at Morgan State University where she graduated with her B.A and M.A studying vocal performance with Marquita Lister. Miss Roberson was apart of the 2019-2020 season artists of the Atlanta Opera studio program; as well as the 2021 participant in the Saratoga Opera’s young artist program. She was recently apart of Opera Lucca’s 2022 summer program where she performed the role of Suor Angelica. Miss Roberson has graduated from Manhattan School of Music with her Professional Studies program.
On The Operatic Stage, she has performed the role of Grisostomo from Don Quichotte: At Camocho’s Wedding by Telemann, in the Saratoga Opera’s young artist summer program in the summer of 2021. Miss Roberson also performed Maria in Saratoga Opera’s main stage production of Man of La Mancha. She has also performed the role of Strawberry Woman in the world renowned opera Porgy and Bess as a studio artist with the Atlanta Opera this past 2019-2020 season. She has also performed the role of Marenka in Bedrich Smetana’s Bartered Bride with the Bethesda Summer Music Festival. Following her successful performances as Marenka, she was invited by the AAMS Opera to perform the role of the Countess (excerpts) from Le Nozze di Figaro in Ischia, Italy. With Opera@Morgan, she has performed in several scenes and fully staged productions, including the 2018 production of Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadows by Steven M.Allen Where She portrayed the title role of Alice Ruth Moore. Most recently, by request of the composer, she repeated her portrayal of Alice Ruth Moore in an Opera Showcase presented by CAAPA.
On The Concert Stage, she has been a featured soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the renowned Morgan State University Choir. She has travelled as a soloist nationally and internationally with the choir and the select group “Singers.” She is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity.
Jacob Shack, viola
Appointed Fourth Chair Viola of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2016, Massachusetts native Jacob Shack earned his Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School as a student of Misha Amory and Heidi Castleman and frequently performed as co-principal of the Juilliard Orchestra. As an undergraduate at Harvard College, Jacob enjoyed playing with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra as principal violist, including on their tours to Cuba and the Middle East. He has toured the world as a chamber and orchestral musician, performing on four continents, most recently in Hong Kong at Bright Sheng’s Intimacy of Creativity Festival and in Colombia at the Medellín International Music Festival. He has performed at several other music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Tanglewood Music Center, where he was the recipient of the Maurice Schwarz Prize in 2013. In addition, he was selected to participate in Jaime Laredo’s New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall in both 2010 and 2012. In addition to his dedication to orchestral playing, Jacob has been recognized in solo and chamber music competitions, including the Washington International Competition for Strings and the Stulberg International String Competition. He has collaborated in performance with such world-renowned artists as James Buswell, Steven Doane, James Dunham, Joseph Kalichstein, Robert Levin, and Joseph Silverstein, and has received numerous awards and scholarships from Harvard University, as well as from his alma mater Phillips Academy. In the summer of 2015, Jacob served as the violist of the New Fromm Players, an ensemble-in-residence at the Tanglewood Music Center devoted to contemporary music performance.
Michael Sheppard, piano
Known as “a virtuosic soloist possessed of power, sensitivity, earthiness, and humor” (Whitney Smith, Indianapolis Star) with the “power to make an audience sit up and pay attention...thought-provoking for performers and listeners alike” (James Manheim, All Music Guide ), Michael Sheppard studied with the legendary Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory. He was selected by the American Pianists Association as a Classical Fellow, which designation led to the recording of his Harmonia Mundi CD of 2007. In 2018 he released an experimental album of all improvisations, "12 Images."
He has performed solo recitals and concertos around the world, as well as across the USA, including several solo Weill (Carnegie) Hall recitals and a solo Kennedy Center debut. As a funny little matter of fact, he happens to have given solo recitals in the hometowns of both Mahler (Jihlava, Czech Republic) and Elvis (Tupelo, Mississippi), and enjoys taking in the local culture wherever in the world he finds himself. Michael gives master classes, teaches regularly and plays with some of the top singers and instrumentalists around; he also coaches singers, instrumentalists, and conductors, and also has begun to conduct occasionally himself.
Kevin Smith, violin
Kevin Smith, a native of Dallas, Texas, joined the Baltimore Symphony as Acting Assistant Concertmaster in 2015. Mr. Smith earned his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance as a student of Julia Bushkova at the University of North Texas. At the Cleveland Institute of Music, he earned Master of Music degree in the studio of Stephen Rose, Principal Second Violin of The Cleveland Orchestra. While attending CIM, Mr. Smith was awarded the 2015 Helen C. Webster Award for Outstanding Graduate Student. As a chamber musician, he has been coached by the Cavani, Juilliard, Shanghai, and Takács Quartets, and studied under Peter Salaff of the Cleveland Quartet. He has attended the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Mr. Smith has performed under the acclaimed conductors, Franz Welser-Möst, Osmo Vänskä, and Valery Gergiev. Before joining the Baltimore Symphony, Mr. Smith was a member of the Akron and Canton Symphony Orchestras, acted as concertmaster for the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, reading, and playing golf.
Vitor Trindade, clarinet
Vitor Trindade was appointed as the second clarinet of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in June 2019. He is currently pursuing his Artist Diploma at the Colburn Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Yehuda Gilad. In 2017 he finished his undergraduate studies at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in Portugal with Nuno Silva as his teacher.
Vitor is a prize winner in many national and international competitions such as the Pasadena Showcase, Julian Menendez, Czech Art, Saverio Mercadante and Lisbon Clarinet competitions. He attended the National Repertory Orchestra festival in 2018 where he was chosen to perform as a soloist, and in 2019 he participated in the Music Academy of the West festival in Santa Barbara.
Mr. Trindade collaborates regularly with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra and the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group.
Myles Blakemore currently serves as Trombonist in the US Navy Band, Professor of Trombone at Howard University, and Professor of Low Brass at Morgan State University. Prior to his current positions, he was the inaugural Rosemary and David Good Fellow with the Minnesota Orchestra and a fellow with the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.
Myles has performed on international stages including with the Baltimore Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Lansing Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, Virginia Symphony and Washington National Opera. As a student, he spent summers attending some of the country’s premier music festivals including Brevard Music Center, National Repertory Orchestra, and Aspen Music Festival.
A Dallas native, Myles is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, where he studied with John Kitzman. He received his Master's Degree at the Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Per Brevig in the Orchestral Program.
He is a sought-after masterclass instructor, and maintains a trombone studio in the Washington DC area. He is currently at work on his debut solo album, which features the works of unaccompanied trombone. Follow Myles’ journey on social media, where he shares his musical process, performance education, and music industry satire. (Follow Myles on Instagram)
Myles Blakemore is a Bach Brass & Conn-Selmer Centerstage Performing Artist.
Sarrah Bushara, oboe
Praised by the Huffington Post for her “lithe and penetrating line,” Sarrah Bushara is a recent alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music, having studied oboe performance with Richard Woodhams and composition with David Serkin Ludwig. A native of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Bushara began her studies with Julie Madura and John Snow, and has soloed with local groups including the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, and the Northeast Orchestra. Recent summer engagements include Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Cuban American Youth Orchestra, the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, and, as a composer, the Atlantic Music Festival. As a composer, Bushara began her studies with Dr. Sarah Miller at the MacPhail Center for Music and studied with Dr. Edie Hill as part of the Schubert Club Composer Mentorship program. This spring, Bushara performed with the Gateways Festival Orchestra as part of the first all-black orchestra to perform at Carnegie Hall, collaborating with composer and pianist Jon Batiste. Bushara has also served as co-principal of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and as a substitute oboist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She currently resides in Cambridge, MA where she studies oboe with John Ferrillo and philosophy at Harvard University, with interests in aesthetics and critical theory. Bushara is a John Harvard Scholar and was recently named one of two winners of the 2022 Jacob Wendell Scholarship Prize.
Holgen Gjoni, cello
Hailed for his “seriousness and depth of an authentic concert soloist,” Holgen Gjoni has been steadily gaining a reputation as one of the most soughtafter cellists of his generation and has performed as soloist and recitalist throughout United States, Europe and Asia. Winner of the 1st Prizes at the "John Hsu" Cello Competition, "Nancy Tumarkin" Cello Concerto Competition, Bucharest Music University Concerto Competition, 2nd Prize at the Mihail Jora International Cello Competition, Special Prize at Jeunnesse Musicales International Cello Competition, Karl Zeise Memorial Cello Award for Outstanding Commitment of Talent from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Presidential Award from The Boston Conservatory, Jerome L. Greene Fellowship Award from the Juilliard School and the Gregor Piatigorsky Fellowship at the New England Conservatory, he has been praised by critics for his “technique, beauty of sound and emotional projection”, “tempestuous musical sensibility, marked by an ineffable luminosity of expression”, "an elite musician", while the legendary YoYo Ma called him "a cellist of great talent".
Highlights of his versatile career include performances at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher, Alice Tully and Merkin Halls, Kennedy Center, Strathmore, Jordan, Seiji Ozawa and “Tchaikovsky” Concert Halls, Berlin and Budapest Opera Houses, Vatican, Tokyo City Opera, Shanghai Center Theatre and Beijing Century Theatre. Since his prizewinning debut with Korca String Orchestra (Albania) at the age of twelve, Mr. Gjoni went on to play as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Radio Chamber Orchestra (Romania), Radio and Television Orchestra (Albania), Kosovo Philharmonic, Greeley Philharmonic and SBS Orchestra (USA), while touring extensively around the world as the featured soloist of the Symphonia Orchestra (Italy) and the Philharmonie of the Nations, in solo performances as an Ambassador of Peace, including for the Papal audience in Vatican.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Gjoni's recent collaboration with the Borromeo String Quartet (Avery Fisher Grant winner) was praised by The Boston Musical Intelligencer: “The round, fullbodied tones of guest cellist Holgen Gjoni were especially notable.” He is a founding member of Arpello Duo (cello and harp, together with acclaimed harpist Ina Zdorovetchi), featured in a recital at the 2011 World Harp Congress in Vancouver, Canada and is set to give the World Premiere performance and CD recording a new Concerto for Cello and Harp (dedicated to them) by composer Geoffrey Gordon with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in Boston's Jordan Hall. Orchestral collaborations have included the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, New World Symphony and Philharmonia of the Nations under the directions of Maestros Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Colin Davis, Leonard Slatkin, James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos and many others.
A Virtu Foundation scholar, Mr. Gjoni is a visiting cello faculty at The Boston Conservatory, where his recent master classes on the topic of "Cello Physics" were enthusiastically received by a soldout audience. He has been invited to teach at Vianden International Music Festival, Luxembourg, Saarburg International Music Festival, Germany and the Academy of Arts in Tirana, Albania and has served as substitute teacher at the Juilliard School and New England Conservatory Preparatory Division. He is frequently invited to be on jury panels for local competitions in the city of Boston. His students went on to win important auditions and competition prizes.
Holgen Gjoni holds degrees from New England Conservatory, the Juilliard School, Boston Conservatory and Bucharest University of Music, having studied with cellists Paul Katz (former cellist of the Cleveland String Quartet), Bonnie Hampton (disciple of Pablo Cassals and Zara Nelsova), Andrew Mark and Marin Cazacu. He played in masterclasses for YoYo Ma, Janos Starker, Natalia Gutman, Franz Helmerson, Radu Aldulescu and has extensively worked with chamber music experts such as Joel Smirnoff, Samuel Rhodes and Joel Krosnick of the Juilliard String Quartet, Martha Katz of the Cleveland String Quartet, Michael Tree of the Guarneri String Quartet, Norman Fisher and Mark Sokol of the Concord String Quartet and Pamela Frank, to name a few.
Lura Johnson, piano
Steinway Artist Lura Johnson is celebrated by critics and audiences for her insightful, emotionally impactful performances. The Washington Post describes hearing her play as “one of life’s great pleasures.” The Baltimore Sun praises her “surging expressive force... impressive bravura...” and “exceptional vitality, color, and impact.” Performing more than one hundred concerts annually as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral pianist, Lura captures, distills, and powerfully communicates the spirit and personality of the music she performs. She describes her mission this way: “My goal is to vividly and thoroughly bring to life the essence and true character of the music, the way an actor embodies a role with full commitment.”
Lura is Resident Pianist of the Baltimore Symphony and Principal Pianist of the Delaware Symphony, positions which synthesize her finely honed ensemble skills, soloistic virtuosity, and versatility. She has played principal keyboard for seven albums recorded by the Baltimore Symphony, including Bernstein’s Mass, which received a Grammy nomination in 2010. The Washington Classical Review wrote of a BSO performance of Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety, “[Soloist] Jean-Yves Thibaudet was shadowed brilliantly by the BSO’s outstanding keyboard player, Lura Johnson, on the daunting celesta part.” This collaboration was immortalized in a 2017 album released by the BSO on the Naxos label, and was also part of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s tour of the United Kingdom in 2018, with performances and telecasts at the renowned BBC Proms and the prestigious Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.
Lura has been featured as a soloist with the Baltimore and Delaware Symphonies, performing Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto, Grieg Concerto, Mozart’s K. 466, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and Saint-Saens Wedding Cake Waltz. She is one of few keyboardists with the versatility to perform the complete Bach Brandenburg Concerti, moving seamlessly from the continuo harpsichord role in Concertos No.1 through 4 and No. 6 to the solo role in the magnificent Concerto No. 5. Similarly, in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s 2020 production of Amadeus Live, Lura navigated the solo role in several Mozart Concerti, as well as performing the supporting role of organ continuo, eliciting the praise “meticulous and brilliant” from the Montgomery County Sentinel.
Julian Maddox, violin / Co-Director of Chamber Music by Candlelight
Julian Maddox is a violinist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He began studying the violin at the age of six, working extensively with Sally O'Reilly. Julian received his undergraduate degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2019. Julian has been a prizewinner in numerous competitions, including the Schubert Club, Thursday Musical, MNSOTA, Dakota Valley Symphony, and MTNA Competitions.
As an avid chamber musician, his ensembles have won first place in the MNSOTA Chamber Music Competition, and have worked with members of the Cleveland, Takacs, Emerson, Danish, Jupiter, and Cavani String Quartets. Currently, he is a contract member of the Canton Symphony Orchestra, and a substitute with the Akron Symphony, Cleveland Pops, Firelands Symphony, New World Symphony, and ProMusica Chamber Orchestras. Julian is also committed to engaging with his local community in Cleveland. He is a founding member of the CIM Black Student Union, and serves as a mentor for the CIM Musical Pathways Fellowship program. In 2018, he worked alongside Cleveland Orchestra members at the Cleveland School for the Arts in a special collaboration for the Cleveland Orchestra's "Prometheus Project" centennial celebration.
Brian Prechtl, percussion
Percussionist Brian Prechtl has been a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2003. Before joining the BSO, he was a member of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Fort Wayne, IN for 14 seasons. Previous to that appointment, he held Principal Percussion positions in the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Prechtl spends his summers in Jackson Hole, WY as a performer in the Grand Teton Music Festival where he has been a member of the percussion section since 1992.
He graduated with high distinction from the University of Michigan in 1984 with a Bachelor of Music degree and went on to earn his Master of Music degree from Temple University in 1986. There he studied with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra and performed as a substitute player in Philadelphia.
Education has been a major focus for Prechtl. He has been a leader in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s outreach program, OrchKids since its inception 11 years ago. He teaches percussion and has piloted a “bucket band” program that has served as a model for El Sistema programs across the country. He recently published Bucket Band Basics– a primer for teaching artists. In 2016 he was awarded with a Ford Award for Excellence in Community Service from the League of American Orchestras for his work in the OrchKids Program.
An active composer, Prechtl has had world premiere performances at the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Eastman School of Music, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and throughout Baltimore. He has won composition prizes from the Percussive Arts Society and the College Music Society. He recently produced a CD of his compositions for music and the spoken word, which are settings of Walt Whitman’s Poetry from Leaves of Grass.
Jouelle Roberson, voice
Jouelle Roberson (Soprano) hails from Washington, D.C. She began her musical studies at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts where she participated in the Show Choir. Following graduation, she was accepted into the vocal studies program at Morgan State University where she graduated with her B.A and M.A studying vocal performance with Marquita Lister. Miss Roberson was apart of the 2019-2020 season artists of the Atlanta Opera studio program; as well as the 2021 participant in the Saratoga Opera’s young artist program. She was recently apart of Opera Lucca’s 2022 summer program where she performed the role of Suor Angelica. Miss Roberson has graduated from Manhattan School of Music with her Professional Studies program.
On The Operatic Stage, she has performed the role of Grisostomo from Don Quichotte: At Camocho’s Wedding by Telemann, in the Saratoga Opera’s young artist summer program in the summer of 2021. Miss Roberson also performed Maria in Saratoga Opera’s main stage production of Man of La Mancha. She has also performed the role of Strawberry Woman in the world renowned opera Porgy and Bess as a studio artist with the Atlanta Opera this past 2019-2020 season. She has also performed the role of Marenka in Bedrich Smetana’s Bartered Bride with the Bethesda Summer Music Festival. Following her successful performances as Marenka, she was invited by the AAMS Opera to perform the role of the Countess (excerpts) from Le Nozze di Figaro in Ischia, Italy. With Opera@Morgan, she has performed in several scenes and fully staged productions, including the 2018 production of Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadows by Steven M.Allen Where She portrayed the title role of Alice Ruth Moore. Most recently, by request of the composer, she repeated her portrayal of Alice Ruth Moore in an Opera Showcase presented by CAAPA.
On The Concert Stage, she has been a featured soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the renowned Morgan State University Choir. She has travelled as a soloist nationally and internationally with the choir and the select group “Singers.” She is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota Music Fraternity.
Jacob Shack, viola
Appointed Fourth Chair Viola of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2016, Massachusetts native Jacob Shack earned his Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School as a student of Misha Amory and Heidi Castleman and frequently performed as co-principal of the Juilliard Orchestra. As an undergraduate at Harvard College, Jacob enjoyed playing with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra as principal violist, including on their tours to Cuba and the Middle East. He has toured the world as a chamber and orchestral musician, performing on four continents, most recently in Hong Kong at Bright Sheng’s Intimacy of Creativity Festival and in Colombia at the Medellín International Music Festival. He has performed at several other music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and the Tanglewood Music Center, where he was the recipient of the Maurice Schwarz Prize in 2013. In addition, he was selected to participate in Jaime Laredo’s New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall in both 2010 and 2012. In addition to his dedication to orchestral playing, Jacob has been recognized in solo and chamber music competitions, including the Washington International Competition for Strings and the Stulberg International String Competition. He has collaborated in performance with such world-renowned artists as James Buswell, Steven Doane, James Dunham, Joseph Kalichstein, Robert Levin, and Joseph Silverstein, and has received numerous awards and scholarships from Harvard University, as well as from his alma mater Phillips Academy. In the summer of 2015, Jacob served as the violist of the New Fromm Players, an ensemble-in-residence at the Tanglewood Music Center devoted to contemporary music performance.
Michael Sheppard, piano
Known as “a virtuosic soloist possessed of power, sensitivity, earthiness, and humor” (Whitney Smith, Indianapolis Star) with the “power to make an audience sit up and pay attention...thought-provoking for performers and listeners alike” (James Manheim, All Music Guide ), Michael Sheppard studied with the legendary Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory. He was selected by the American Pianists Association as a Classical Fellow, which designation led to the recording of his Harmonia Mundi CD of 2007. In 2018 he released an experimental album of all improvisations, "12 Images."
He has performed solo recitals and concertos around the world, as well as across the USA, including several solo Weill (Carnegie) Hall recitals and a solo Kennedy Center debut. As a funny little matter of fact, he happens to have given solo recitals in the hometowns of both Mahler (Jihlava, Czech Republic) and Elvis (Tupelo, Mississippi), and enjoys taking in the local culture wherever in the world he finds himself. Michael gives master classes, teaches regularly and plays with some of the top singers and instrumentalists around; he also coaches singers, instrumentalists, and conductors, and also has begun to conduct occasionally himself.
Kevin Smith, violin
Kevin Smith, a native of Dallas, Texas, joined the Baltimore Symphony as Acting Assistant Concertmaster in 2015. Mr. Smith earned his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance as a student of Julia Bushkova at the University of North Texas. At the Cleveland Institute of Music, he earned Master of Music degree in the studio of Stephen Rose, Principal Second Violin of The Cleveland Orchestra. While attending CIM, Mr. Smith was awarded the 2015 Helen C. Webster Award for Outstanding Graduate Student. As a chamber musician, he has been coached by the Cavani, Juilliard, Shanghai, and Takács Quartets, and studied under Peter Salaff of the Cleveland Quartet. He has attended the Mimir Chamber Music Festival, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Mr. Smith has performed under the acclaimed conductors, Franz Welser-Möst, Osmo Vänskä, and Valery Gergiev. Before joining the Baltimore Symphony, Mr. Smith was a member of the Akron and Canton Symphony Orchestras, acted as concertmaster for the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, reading, and playing golf.
Vitor Trindade, clarinet
Vitor Trindade was appointed as the second clarinet of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in June 2019. He is currently pursuing his Artist Diploma at the Colburn Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Yehuda Gilad. In 2017 he finished his undergraduate studies at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in Portugal with Nuno Silva as his teacher.
Vitor is a prize winner in many national and international competitions such as the Pasadena Showcase, Julian Menendez, Czech Art, Saverio Mercadante and Lisbon Clarinet competitions. He attended the National Repertory Orchestra festival in 2018 where he was chosen to perform as a soloist, and in 2019 he participated in the Music Academy of the West festival in Santa Barbara.
Mr. Trindade collaborates regularly with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra and the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group.